-called lady hawks drew on lessons from the 1994 rwanda genocide. they determined the u.s. had no choice but to intervene. arguing from a humanitarian point of view, they persuaded the president to take military action. meanwhile, secretary of defense robert gates and other top male advisors urged against intervention saying it was not vital to national security. congresswoman norton was the president right to listen to the so-called lady hawks? >> i'm sure these three smart women would agree you do not make the weighty decision to go to war based on the agenda of the officials pressing the point. >> now, the question ought to be should we be going to war without a clear mission? and the answer is no and i don't care who gave me that advice. >> well, back to the question of whether or not he should have listened to them. he absolutely should have listened to them. these are three smart women. they have a variety of background and experience on humanitarian issues and crisises. and so their opinion was just invaluable whether you agree with it or not. >> i respect their positions and the

report from the international parliamentary union shows the u.s. 72d in the world as of this year behind such countries as rwanda, sweden and south africa, in terms of women's representation in parliament or congress. the united states ranks 31st in the world in terms of women ministers or cabinet secretaries that report was based on figures compiled during the second bush administration. >> the u.s. is quite different from other developed nations, its counterparts in the industrialized world, in that we do not have paid parental leave policies. some of the basic, very fundamental things that working women need to succeed in the economy, in the world of work, we just don't have. and if we're really serious about winning the future as the obama administration has emphasized, we're going to need to catch up with many of the other high-income countries that have realized that to have a strong economy, you have to have supports in place to help both working men and women succeed at work. >> so, congresswoman nortons it fair to say that when you look at women's gains internationally and women

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